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by fictionallemons



Category: Mission: Impossible (Movies)
Genre: Benji is gay, Ethan is Bi, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Friends to Lovers, Light Angst, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Romantic Comedy, Skydiving, Skydiving AU, Weddings
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2019-08-05
Packaged: 2020-08-10 03:03:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20128300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fictionallemons/pseuds/fictionallemons
Summary: Ethan Hunt has moved on since his divorce from Julia. He moved to a different state, started his own skydiving school, and goes on plenty of (first) dates. When Julia demands he bring a plus one to her upcoming wedding, Ethan blurts out the first name he can think of--Benji Dunn, his faithful business partner and best friend. It doesn't matter that there's never been anything romantic between the two of them--all that matters is that Benji plays along for a few days. What's the worst that could happen?





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"So I talked to Mom yesterday and she said she hadn't gotten your response."

  
Ethan sandwiches the phone between his shoulder and his ear in order to have both hands free to fumble with the coffee maker. It's way too early to have this conversation without coffee. Julia had a habit of calling early in the morning, either forgetting about the three hour time difference between New York and California, or not caring. She'd probably been up for hours, already kicking ass and saving lives at the hospital where she was surgeon. Ethan had overslept and now he had to hustle to get to work by the morning meeting.

  
"My response?"

  
"For the wedding, dummy. I know you got the invite, and I need to know if you're coming. Please say you're coming."

  
"When is it again?" He's stalling.

  
"June twenty-fifth. At Atkins Farm." Julia sighs. "I need you to be there, Ethan. Please."

  
Ethan already knows he has to be there. He's about to sigh and make a lightly snarky comment about clearing his schedule, but Julia's next words surprise him. "And I want you to bring a date."

  
"A date?"

  
"You do date, don't you Ethan?" Julia says, but her tone has turned careful and Ethan hates it. He hates it when she treats him with kid gloves, like something fragile, something breakable.

  
"Of course I do." He's a thirty-five-year-old single man. He's been on plenty of dates. He just doesn't feel the need to mention they're all first dates. Second date is not in his vocabulary. Never more than a drink, maybe dinner, maybe a hook-up if the other party also seems like they aren't interested in anything longer term. The best thing about first dates is there's no history. No baggage. You can pretend to be normal, for a night. But second dates, that means you're maybe going somewhere where the other person is going to want to know things about you. And Ethan knows they won't like what they find out. So he saves everyone the trouble.

  
Then again, you can't take a first date to your ex-wife's wedding.

  
"Ethan? You there?"

  
"What? Yeah, just trying to make some coffee."

  
Julia laughs and for a second Ethan misses her. Really misses her. She has a lovely, throaty laugh.

  
"So, you're coming and you're bringing someone."

  
Ethan spills the full filter of coffee grounds on the counter before he can get it in the machine and barely stops himself from swearing. "Yeah. Sure. I'll bring someone."

  
"What's their name?"

  
This brings Ethan up short. "Uh. Why do you need to know?"

  
"For the seating chart, dummy."

  
"Oh right." He sweeps the spilled grounds back into the filter, ignoring the stray crumbs that have been collected along with them.

  
"Maybe if we hadn't eloped you would know this stuff."

  
He tries not to take it as a dig. Tries not to picture their wedding, rushed, informal. Jules wearing scrubs and him in his motorcycle jacket and boots. Candy bars from the vending machine instead of cake.

  
"So, name?"

  
Ethan knows he can put her off. But the wedding's in two weeks and he figures her mom actually really does need to know. He's always liked Myrna, hates the idea of making her life harder because of his bullshit. Wedding date. Wedding date. His eye catches on the SkyTrip company calendar. The picture for June is his favorite—the entire team, all six of them, wearing SkyTrip t-shirts and posing in front of their signature blue-on-white airplane. Will, Luther, Ilsa, Jane, all lined up in the back, and in the front, Ethan and Benji, kneeling side by side.

  
"Benji."

  
"Benji?" Julia's voice has something in it that Ethan can't quite read.

  
"Yeah, Benji. Well, you can tell your mom Benjamin. Dunn. He's my date."

  
"Benjamin—wait, Benji? From your office?"

  
"Problem?" He's a little surprised she places the name so quickly. But Benji's been with him since the beginning of SkyTrip. Three years now. Long enough for Julia to have heard the name.

  
"No. It's fine." But there's still something in her voice.

  
"Fine. great. Listen, Jules, I gotta run."

  
"See you soon, Ethan."

  
Ethan clicks the phone off without saying goodbye. He never says goodbye. Julia had been annoyed by it, once, then accepted it as one of the quirks about him she'd never be able to change.

  
He clicks the button on the coffee maker. It makes a sad gurgling sound, then sparks fly and the light goes out. Fuck it. He'll get coffee at the office.

**Author's Note:**

> This will be a multi-chapter au with irregular updates and a happy ending. Subscribe to follow along!


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